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The Acropolis was both the
fortified citadel and state sanctuary of the ancient city of Athens.
Although the great building programs of the 5th century B.C. have
disturbed or covered many of the earlier remains, there is still a
great deal of archaeological evidence attesting to the importance of
the Acropolis in all periods of time. In the Late Bronze Age, the
Acropolis was surrounded by a massive fortification wall like those at
Mycenae and Tiryns in southern Greece. This wall remained in use long
after the collapse of Mycenaean civilization, and functioned as the
fortifications of the Acropolis for several centuries. By the middle of
the 8th century B.C., if not earlier, at least part of the Acropolis
had developed into the sanctuary of the goddess Athena, the patron
divinity of the city. It is likely that the first temple of Athena
Polias was constructed in this period in order to house a wooden cult
statue of the goddess. In the 2nd quarter of the 6th century B.C.,
probably in association with the re-organization of the Panathenaic
festival in 566 B.C., there was a burst of architectural and sculptural
activity, and the first monumental, stone, Doric temple of Athena is
built on the Acropolis. Another monumental temple was built towards the
end of the 6th century, and yet another was begun after the Athenian
victory over the Persians at Marathon in 490 B.C. However, the
Acropolis was captured and destroyed by the Persians 10 years later (in
480 B.C.). Although the Athenians and other Greeks were eventually
victorious over their eastern enemies, the Acropolis lay in ruins. In
the mid-5th century, the Athenians were persuaded by the statesman
Perikles to rebuild the temples on the Acropolis on a grand scale, and
it is during the second half of the 5th century B.C. that the most
famous buildings on the Acropolis -- the Parthenon, the Erechtheion,
the Propylaia, and the temple of Athena Nike, were constructed.

In the Hellenistic and Roman periods, many elaborate dedications were
set up on the Acropolis by foreign (non-Athenian) rulers, general, and
statesmen. While still functioning as a religious center, the
Acropolis, in a sense, became a kind of "museum" or "theater of memory"
linking the "glory days" of Athens with the new powers of the
Hellenistic and, later, Roman world. In 267 A.D. Athens was invaded and
partially destroyed by the Heruli from northern Europe. In the
aftermath, a new fortification wall was built around the city, running
from the Acropolis north to the Library of Hadrian, east for a few
hundred meters, and then finally back south towards the North and East
Slopes of the Acropolis. (The course of this "Post-Herulian" or Late
Roman fortification wall is not completely known on the eastern side,
and it is likely that they included part of the South Slope of the
Acropolis as well). The Acropolis once again became an important
citadel, and the western appoach was strengthened by a new gateway (the
so-called Beulé Gate, named after an early archaeologist). The
new circuit also secured an important source of water, the Klepsydra,
within the fortifications of the Acropolis. Throughout late antiquity
and the Middle Age up until the liberation of Greece from the Ottoman
Empire in the early 19th century, the Acropolis remained a strategic
and well-defended citadel.

Archaeological excavations, and the necessary conservation, study, and
publication of the monuments, were begun in the 1830's soon after Greek
indepedence, and continue to the present day.

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Catalogues (click on any thumbnail to view
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Choremi-Spetsieri,
A. "1995-2002: ARCHAIOLOGIKI EREVNA YIA TIN AKROPOLIN," in Proceedings
of the 5th International Meeting for the Restoration of the Acropolis
Monuments, Athens, 4-6 October, 2002, ed. F. Malouchou-Tufano,
Athens, pp. 391-412. (An excellent survey of publications dealing with
various aspects of the Acropolis during the period 1995-2002.).

Malouchou-Tufano,
F. 2004. Proceedings of the 5th
International Meeting for the Restoration of the Acropolis Monuments,
Athens, 4-6 October, 2002, Athens. (The latest word on the
archaeology of the Acropolis, ranging from architecture and sculpture
to technical and scientific studies dealing with the conservation and
restoration of the monuments. Most of the papers are in Greek.)